This application claims the benefit of Taiwan application Serial No. 091134238, filed Nov. 25, 2002.
1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates in general to a plasma display panel, and more particularly to a plasma display panel with common data electrodes.
2. Description of the Related Art
Plasma display panel (PDP) whose display characteristics are far better than that of cathode ray tube (CRT) due to the features of big size, wide view angle, high resolution and full-colored image display etc., has drawn considerable attention in recent years.
Refer to FIG. 1, which is a three-dimensional diagram of a conventional plasma display panel. The plasma display panel includes a front substrate 102 and a rear substrate 108 with a number of alternately arranged sustaining electrodes X and scanning electrodes Y being disposed on the front substrate 102 wherein a number of transparent electrodes (not shown) can be formed and defined before the formation of the above sustaining electrodes X and scanning electrodes Y. The transparent electrodes whose patterns are determined according to their designs would not be described in detail. The above sustaining electrodes X and scanning electrodes Y are covered by a dielectric layer 104, while the dielectric layer 104 is covered by a protection layer 106, which is composed of magnesium oxide and is used to protect sustaining electrodes X, scanning electrodes Y and the dielectric layer 104. Moreover, a number of data electrodes A are disposed on the rear substrate 108 and are covered by a dielectric layer 116, wherein data electrodes A are orthogonal to sustaining electrodes X and scanning electrodes Y A number of barrier ribs 112 are disposed on the rear substrate 108 along the direction of data electrodes A with a number of fluorescent layers 110 covering between every two adjacent barrier ribs 112.
The cavity between the front substrate 102 and the rear substrate 108 is a discharge space filled with discharge gas, which is a mixture of neon and xenon. A display unit is defined by a sustaining electrode X and a scanning electrode Y, both are disposed on the front substrate 102, together with their corresponding data electrode A, which is disposed on the rear substrate 108. Therefore, a number of display units arranged in matrix can be defined on a plasma display panel by the sustaining electrodes X, scanning electrodes Y and data electrodes A. By exciting the gas in the discharge, the excited gas will emit ultraviolet rays. The fluorescent layer 110 will emit visible light after absorbing ultraviolet rays of specific wavelengths.
Refer to FIG. 2, a schematic diagram illustrating the relation between several display units of horizontal arrangement and each electrode in the plasma display panel shown in FIG. 1. Display units of different colors can be obtained by forming fluorescent layers corresponding to different colors between adjacent barrier ribs. As shown in FIG. 2, data electrodes A1, A2 and A3 are used to control red display units R1 and R2, green display units G1 and G2, blue display units B1 and B2 respectively. The driving method for these display units includes the following steps. First, during an erasing period, erase displaying data for all display units. Next, during an addressing period, sequentially scan scanning electrodes Y1 and Y2, and select the display units to be lighted by enabling data electrodes A1 to A3. After that, during a discharge sustaining period, the selected display units will be lighted continuously by providing an alternating voltage between the sustaining electrode X1 and scanning electrode Y1, and the sustaining electrode X2 and scanning electrode Y2.
In addition to the display unit of horizontal arrangement as shown in FIG. 2, display units can also be disposed in triangle arrangement. Refer to FIG. 3, a schematic diagram illustrating a conventional relations between several display units of triangle arrangement and each electrode. The display units of triangle arrangement are achieved by means of honeycomb type barrier ribs 302. Take the adjacent and alternately arranged display units green display unit G2 and red display unit R3 for example. Green display unit G2 is controlled by data electrode A2 and scanning electrode Y1 while red display unit R3 is controlled by data electrode A1 and scanning electrode Y1. When scanning electrode Y1 is scanned, green display unit G2 and red display unit R3 can be respectively selected by data electrodes A1 and A2.
Conventionally, the adjacent and alternately arranged display units must be controlled by different data electrodes, so a large number of data electrodes are required in order to control display units. Since a large number of data electrodes are required, the cost of a conventional plasma display panel is increased. Besides, the manufacturing process becomes more complicated due to the narrow space between adjacent data electrodes.
It is therefore an object of the invention to provide a plasma display panel, which controls two adjacent and alternately arranged display units using common data electrodes. By reducing the required number of data electrodes, the manufacturing cost can be further lowered.
It is therefore an object of the invention to provide a plasma display panel including a plurality of sustaining electrodes, scanning electrodes, data electrodes, the first display unit and the second display unit. These sustaining electrodes and scanning electrodes form at least two adjacent electrode combinations, namely the first electrode combination and the second electrode combination, wherein each electrode combination includes a sustaining electrode and a scanning electrode. Data electrodes are disposed along a direction approximately orthogonal to these sustaining electrodes and scanning electrodes. The first display unit corresponds to the first primary color and is controlled by the first data electrode and the first electrode combination while the second display unit corresponds to the second primary color and is controlled by the first data electrode and the second electrode combination, wherein the first display unit and the second display unit are adjacent and alternately arranged.
Other objects, features, and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of the preferred but non-limiting embodiments. The following description is made with reference to the accompanying drawings.